Photographer Salah Baazizi has an amazing knack for photographing birds up close and personal as they pluck fish from the waters around Bolsa Chica in southern California. The split-second shots of terns, herons, and cormorants give the illusion Baazizi is sitting just inches away, practically sticking a camera down their beaks, but in reality he uses a 400mm super telephoto lens and positions himself at great distances. This is only the smallest fraction of the hobbyist photographer’s wildlife photos, you can explore hundreds of additional shots over on Flickr.

Elegant Tern, Bolsa Chica (CA)

Great Blue Heron working on its catch, Bolsa Chica (CA)

Elegant Tern losing its fish, Bolsa Chica (CA)

Forster’s Tern doing the contortionist, Irvine (CA)

Great Blue Heron working on its catch, Bolsa Chica (CA)

Elegant Tern, Bolsa Chica (CA)

Elegant Tern, Bolsa Chica (CA)

Elegant Tern displaying its acrobatic aerial skills after a fish escaped from its beak